(1) "Speech" and "Money," Obvious Synonyms
According to the Supreme Court

Recently the U.S. Supreme Court majority decided that
donating money to a candidate was somehow an expression of freedom of
speech. Thus no limits could
theoretically be placed on the amount of the donation. Otherwise, Congress would be passing a law
"abridging freedom of speech," something expressly forbidden in the
Constitution's First Amendment.

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Their "reasoning," if I may take the liberty of calling it
that, depended on the idea that if one donates a large sum of money to a
candidate, that one must agree with that candidate. Unfortunately, none of the majority
"Justices," if I may take the liberty of
calling these judges that, can say for certain whether that the donor
agrees with the candidate or not. What
he can say is that the donor certainly
hopes that the candidate agrees with him after his generous "free"
gift! Even more uncertain, if donations
to candidates are merely gestures of agreement and as such, free expressions of
speech, then why can't Supreme Court Justices legally accept these "free" tokens
of speech from their generous donors?
Why is poor Clarence Thomas forced to accept donations through his
lobbyist wife. I mean, in his case, he
really did have the same opinion before and after those welcome gratuities.

(2) "Voting" As "Freedom of Speech"

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At any rate,
"Unofficial Constitutional Law" states:
"Violation of the Constitution always comes back, sooner or later, to
bite one in the ass. It just takes
longer sometimes than others." So, if paying
a candidate, an admittedly questionable act ( a 5-4 decision), is considered "speech,"
then voting for somebody is certainly
an expression of freedom of speech (a 9-0 decision, however reluctant some
Justices might be to admit it)!
Therefore, instead of bringing up arguments regarding Republican
attempts to restrict voting in various states and debating about whether they
are violating purposely vague laws, let us go to the heart of the problem, the
violation of the First Amendment. Any
purposeful attempts to make it harder for citizens to vote must be
examined by the courts before they are enacted.
Some issues, such as voter I.D.'s sound quite reasonable. They probably don't ultimately
violate even the spirit of most legitimate voting regulations, but in an
attempt to rush the legislation and its enforcement, Republicans have revealed
their true motive: to keep poor people and elderly folks from voting. In fact, whatever their motivation,
considering that voting is the ultimate expression of freedom of speech, even
abridging the freedom "accidentally on purpose" is a "no no." Permitting gun licenses, but not student
university I.D.'s as voter identification, in fact, certainly looks like a
willful violation of civil rights to me and probably should result in
appropriate punishment for the offending legislators.

(3) The Florida Legislature Warns: Uncontrolled League of
Women Voters May Represent Threat to United States of America, Incorporated!
/Group May Register Too Many New Voters/ Governor Calls for More Arrests To
Help Finance Private Prisons

Meanwhile the situation in Florida is even more bizarre, not
so much because of the legislature's famous reputation for illiteracy and
ignorance of law, but for their unexpected ingenuity. Instead of harassing the voters as they
attempt to register, they are deliberately making it more difficult for The
League of Women Voters and other non-partisan community service organizations
to help people to register! The
"helper" must report within 48 hours, every person she has assisted in
registering to vote, otherwise she is subject to fines and even more serious
punishment such as imprisonment. This
obvious assault, ultimately, on freedom of speech, has virtually eliminated
most voter registration drives in the state.

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This situation forces me to ask the question: Are the new privatized Florida prisons so
desperate to fill their cells that they need to incarcerate those terribly
dangerous femme fatales of the League of Women Voters? How much are private prison owners donating
in gifts of free speech to Republican legislators to invent new crimes destined
to fill those prisons as well as the pockets of their owners in the new United
States of America, Incorporated?

Dr. Allen Finkelstein, writing since 2006 under the penname “O’finky,” was born in New York, where he attended the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County as a boy. He continued his religious training in South Florida until his family, (more...)